The real Charlie Parker: what the movie didn't tell you

Ebony, Jan, 1989 by Marilyn Marshall

Parker was also a "ladies' man" and apparently had a healthy sexual appetite. Rebecca recalls that when their marriage began to sour in the late '30s, Parker often got intimate letters at home from women he had met, and would drive up in front of their house with another woman. Roach, however, says that looking back on Parker's love life, "It didn't seem like Bird had more than his share of women. He always had a woman, but it was Gerri, Doris, then Chan."

Controversy surrounded Parker's marriages. It's a known fact that he was legally married to Rebecca Ruffin and then to Geraldine Scott. In 1948 he wed Doris Snydor, but the legality of that marriage was questioned during a five-year court battle over Parker's estate that began a year and a half after his death in 1955. In 1962, an agreement was reached granting varying portions of estate proceeds to Geraldine, who died in the early '80s; Parker's son, Leon, who is administrator of the estate; Parker's son by Chan, Baird, who now lives on the East Coast; his mother, Addie, who died in 1967; Doris, who lives in New York City, and Rebecca.

CHARLES Parker Jr. was born Aug. 29, 1920, in Kansas City, Kan. His father, Charles Sr., was a singer and dancer who later found work as a Pullman chef. The family moved to nearby Kansas City, Mo., in the late '20s. Always on the go, Charles Sr. left home for good (he was stabbed to death a number of years later). Addie Parker became the breadwinner, working as a domestic and taking in boarders to support her only child. A strong-willed woman who did not allow liquor in her house, Ardie Parker pampered and protected young Charlie.

In 1934, 14-year-old Rebecca Ruffin and her family moved into the second floor of the Parker home. Rebecca says Charlie was more than just spoiled. "He was rotten," she says. "Loving, but rotten." The two youngsters soon began "courting" and married when they were both 16. At the time, Charlie was an aspiring musician without steady work. Rebecca had just completed high school and worked in a library. They lived at home with his mother.

During the next few years, Parker began to mature as a musician. One of his earliest idols was the great tenor saxophonist Lester (Prez) Young, and Parker would spend hours listening to Young's music. Parker played with several Kansas City bands in the late '30s, including McShann's group. McShann first heard Parker play in 1937 when he was passing by a club in the city. "I was definitely impressed," he recalls. "That's why I went inside to see who was playing."

In 1939, Parker decided to branch out and asked Rebecca for permission to leave. "We went into the dining room," she recalls, "and as he was holding my hand he said: 'Rebecca, I need to be free. I believe if I were free I could be a great musician.'" Parker moved to New York City, where his first job was as a dishwasher.

After a few New York gigs, Parker rejoined McShann's band in 1940, and then worked regularly on 52nd Street in New York. He joined the Earl Hines band in 1943 as a tenor sax player. That same year he married Geraldine Scott, a dancer. They were together for less than a year. She later said: "When I met him, all he had was a horn and a habit. He gave me the habit." Parker's next big romance began around 1944 when he met Doris Snydor, a hat check girl at a club on 52nd Street.